Handmade Seller Interview: Striped Pebble

This week’s interview is with a UK-based printmaker called Jane, from Striped Pebble, who produces beautiful linocut prints. I just love the natural feel of the prints, the presentation of the products, and the texture of the papers that have been used.

Now I will hand over to Jane….

How did you get started in your handmade business?

My next door neighbour gave me some offcuts when she had a lino floor fitted in her kitchen, and I was off! The lino tools came out of a dusty box having not been used since art college and I discovered a new passion.

What first made you want to become an artist/craftsperson?

Even at age eleven I made and sold soft toys to friends at school, I made a little catalogue with design options! It was something in me that was always there.

Apart fom crafts, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful family and a gorgeous hairy dog called Marvin, who, between them, take up all my spare time.

How long have you been creating art/crafts and how long have you been selling online?

I have now been creating linocut designs and selling online for about six years.

If you had to recommend one movie, which perhaps isn’t so well known, which one would it be?

It would be Snow Cake, a film with Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver. Everyone should see it, brilliantly acted, about loneliness, grief and autism, it is warm, funny and enlightening.

What’s your biggest non craft-related ambition?

One day I will finish writing a book and get it published, there, I’ve said it, now it has to be done!

How did you come up with your shop name?

My sister Vicky came up with the business name, and I accidentally stole it. We started selling together, and when she moved on, I carried on using it. She was living in North Devon at the time, by a beach that is full of striped pebbles.

What are your hopes and aspirations for your store and where do you see yourself going from here?

I have recently been joined in my studio, aka the kitchen, by my good friend Becky, who has given up her job to help me grow my business, so my hope this year, is to increase the income to provide us both with an income.

If you had the opportunity to learn one more craft you don’t already do, what would it be?

I would love to learn carpentry, to be able to craft something useful and beautiful out of wood.

If you could have one super power, what would it be and why?

I would like to be able to control time, slow it down when I need to get twice as much done as I’m able, and speed it up when I can’t wait to go on holiday.